UK said to be studying Czech exit plan where shops now reopening

Country eases coronavirus measures after quick response helped it limit cases to 7,400

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Many shops outside shopping malls are reopening in the Czech Republic after the government brought forward its five-stage lockdown exit plan, amid reports that the British government is closely watching the country's back-to-business strategy.

Under increasing pressure to lift parts of the UK's lockdown and limit the damage to the economy, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is understood to be studying the Czech Republic's approach to lifting the tight restrictions it imposed earlier than most countries further west, which have helped it limit cases to 7,400, with just 221 deaths.